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Followers of the Iran captures drones stories should note the Associated Press connection : who have been shown repeatedly to have no concept of anything except propaganda projection and continued harassment of chosen victim nations.10:12 pm MST

*El Buffet may not be your idea of Party Central, but people make do with what they have available to them. And you'll note that it's open 24 HOURS.* *by Ken* Just the other night -- New Year's Eve, actually -- I tried hard to allow for the possibility that 2013 might bring us grounds for hope. So far, though, the new year is looking creepily familiar. *DNAinfo.com* *Drunken Brawl Over Bathroom Line Mars New Year's Party, Witnesses Say*January 1, 2013 11:45am | By Nigel Chiwaya, Victoria Bekiempis, and Carla Zanoni INWOOD -- New Year's revelers attacked each other with broken Taba...more »

The first decade of the 21st century was a heady time for foreign-policy wonks. Why? Because their world was awash with Great Debates about Grand StrategyTM. Now things seem much less exciting. Perhaps that’s because, despite the best efforts of the usual suspects, the partisan debate no longer maps well onto big ideas about grand Continue reading

*"Going to Tehran: Why the United States Must Come to Terms with the Islamic Republic of Iran"* Lby Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett will be available next week, January 8, 2013. Below are excerpts from reviews of the book by Lt. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh, professor Anatol Lieven, and professor Andrew J. Bacevich. [Source: Amazon.com] "One needn’t agree with every word in Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett’s new book, *Going to Tehran*, to grasp its basic truth: U.S. Iran...more »

*The Ubuntu operating system has been customized to run on smartphones.The Linux-based software will permit users to run desktop apps on their handsets, allowing them to double for PCs when docked to monitors.* The code will firstly be released as a file which can be installed on Samsung's Galaxy Nexus phone, replacing Android. Some analysts question whether consumers really want the power of a fully fledged processor on their phone. Ubuntu is the most accepted operating system to be based on the Linux kernel the code that lets software and hardware work together. The firm makes...more »

*Attendance at Taipei Zoo, 1999-2012. The pandas arrived in Dec of 2008. Figures for 2012 do not yet include Dec, which should add at least 225,000.* Heh. It was four years ago this month that the Annexation Lardbombsexploded at the Taipei Zoo. They were delivered on Dec 23, 2008, and went on display a month later, to a brief flurry of absolute madness. Profoundly political and not the least bit a demonstration of goodwill, they were handled as a "domestic transfer" under CITES, one of the many quiet ways that the Ma government has capitulated to Beijing, as my round-up post above ...more »

Regular readers (if any are left) will remember that I wrote many posts on the subject of the number of dead in Iraq. There was a concerted effort on the part of the U.S. government and media to minimize that number, and to denigrate or ignore scientific studies which yielded higher numbers, in keeping with their own self-interest. In Syria, of course, the shoe is on the other foot, and the U.S. government and media have every interest in *maximizing* the number of dead, and furthermore, in ignoring any breakdown of those numbers, because they want very much to leave the impression...more »

I'm not really one to make New Years resolutions. I guess I'm too much of a student of history to view things in small yearly durations, opting instead to look at broader sweeps of time. But I do have a few broad goals in mind that I've been working on lately so I thought I'd share them here. First off, I'm hoping to be able to work a little less this year (or at least until summer hits) and make more time for myself). The nature of work being what it is here, its pretty easy to burn yourself out if you're not careful. I'm not sure how many 18-day shifts I worked since last...more »

(My emphasis throughout) I wanted to show you a few snips – that will hopefully provide you with an example of the on-going anti-climate right-wing extremist agenda that is disseminated at ALEC meetings. Based on this information – it is not hard to understand why ALEC legislators come back from these meetings with stinking thinking that is based on right-wing extremist propaganda. First a little recap of the purpose of one of their meetings. Spring Task Force Summit The Summit is an intensive three-day meeting of ALEC’s task force members, designed to keep members abreast of new ...more »

Brad Delong calls this “hoisted from the archives,” which is clearly a better term for what I’m doing. But, as that’s taken and I’m not as smart as the great economics professor, I guess I’ll just have to stick with this alternative. Peer reviewing: a call to arms (updated) From: 22 April 2009 I just Continue reading

Two prominent Rightwing bobble heads, PostMedia's John Ivison and the Ottawa Citizen's Terry Glavin have both written dismissive op-eds dismissing the Idle No More movement as frivolous, simplistic and disingenuous. Their columns reveal more about the state of rightwing minds than the Idle No More movement itself. To them, the native protest is to be taken in isolation, whittled down to something they can digest and then dismissed as irrelevant, insincere carping. What they refuse to see is Idle No More in the larger context. They don't see it as merely one expression of a br...more »

Coral reefs off the coast of China have largely died off, a study finds. Photo courtesy: Hughes et al. Current Biology Coral reefs are under siege worldwide, and now a team of Australian and Chinese researchers has made an alarming discovery in the waters near China: The teeming coral reefs once found off the shores of the Asian giant have shrunk by an astonishing 80 percent over the last 30 years. Biological surveys in the South China Sea and off mainland China revealed that losses of living coral reefs, especially in the past 10 to 15 years, present a "grim picture of decline, de...more »

*At the link, hear NJ Gov. Chris Christie tear into the other-than-"good" people in Congress who last night turned their backs on the victims of Superstorm Sandy.* They have the still North in their hearts, the hill winds in their veins, and the GRANITE of New Hampshire in their muscles and their brains, and the GRANITE of New Hampshire in their muscles and their brains. *-- the grand climax of a mercifully disused old college song* *by Ken* We actually used to that old college song in olden days, and some of us relished the silliness of all but boasting of that granite in our brains...more »

David Cameron must return the Falkland Islands to Argentina, 180 years after the territories were “forcibly stripped” from the South American country, the country’s president has claimed in newspaper adverts. In an emotional open letter to the British prime minister, Cristina Kirchner, Argentina’s president, has called on him to honour a United Nations resolution dating from 1965 and start negotiations about handing over the islands. The letter, which was due to be published in the British national newspaper The Guardian on Thursday, is timed to mark the anniversary of when on Jan...more »

* "Multiple Justice Disorder"* by Joel Bowman "Go down to the Justice Center and that's all you see- just us." - Richard Pryor "Chances are, you’re a criminal. At least as defined by the state. You might not be one of the 83,000 people who are sent to prison in the United States *every single year*… and you might not have run afoul of one of the 4,500 (and counting) federal statutes…but that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook… There are still tens of thousands — if not hundreds of thousands — of additional laws, rules, regulations, writs, decrees, codes, charters, bylaws, edi...more »

At about 4:00pm today, rumor was floated on the twitter that Boehner was going to resign at 5:00pm. Based on some random person who said it on Hannity. At which point, I walked away from the computer. By 5:30 the internet reported Boehner not doing mano-a-mano with Obama anymore. Most of the GOPers who spent all day trashing him are now his BFF because he promised to bring up a vote for a tiny bit of Sandy relief first thing on Friday. Pretty sure that group does not include Chris Christie who came out strong for Cantor in his presser today. To which Boehner responded by reforgin...more »

*"25 Facts That The Mainstream Media Doesn’t* * Really Want To Talk About Right Now"* By Michael "For decades, the mainstream media in the United States was accustomed to being able to tell the American people what to think. Unfortunately for them, a whole lot of Americans are starting to break free from that paradigm and think for themselves. A Gallup survey from earlier this year found that 60 percent of all Americans “have little or no trust” in the mainstream media. More people than ever are realizing that the mainstream media is giving them a very distorted version of “t...more »

*"Republicans Apologize to Top 1.5 Per Cent"* by Andy Borowitz WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)— "In the aftermath of the fiscal-cliff deal, Republicans in Congress issued a heartfelt apology to the top 1.5 per cent richest people in America, offering “messages of profound condolence” for allowing their taxes to increase slightly. “Our hearts go out to them,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), still teary-eyed after hanging up the phone with a multimillionaire in Orange County, California. “We came to Washington to do the work of 1.5 per cent of the American people, and we...more »

Found this: *Liberty Mutual is not a contributor to ALEC* Submitted by mcody on December 14, 2012 - 11:31am Liberty Mutual is not a contributor to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), *according to extensive research done by MAPE* *after recent inquiries by members.* MAPE will continue to work with Liberty Mutual and encourages members to take advantage of the discounts on insurance offered to members by Liberty Mutual. Each year, hundreds of MAPE members find that Liberty Mutual offers rates they can’t get elsewhere. Go to Liberty Mutual’s members-only discount page t...more »

[image: random_7] *Animal Hospital in Taichung on Yingtsai Rd north of Taichunggang Rd.* The WantWant Group's ability to slant and control the news was once again on display this week. CTI cut criticism of the WantWant purchase of Next Media from a concert: China Television Co’s (CTV) controversial removal of remarks against media monopolization made by Wu Ching-feng (吳青峰), the lead singer of the popular band Sodagreen (蘇打綠), during his New Year’s Eve performance in Greater Kaohsiung from its rerun of the festivities continues to brew, with scores of netizens calling the TV station ...more »

One of America's greatest judicial philosophers was Judge Learned Hand. Among his legendary achievements he is remembered for his discussion of liberty given in Central Park, New York, on May 21st, 1944. Here are some of his remarks: *What do we mean when we say that first of all we seek liberty? I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws, and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitu...more »

John W. Whitehead *By John W. Whitehead * “We need to look more closely at a culture that all too often glorifies guns and violence.”—President Barack Obama It didn’t take long for the tragedy of the Newtown, Connecticut shootings, which left 20 schoolchildren and six adults dead, to be co-opted by politicians and special interest groups alike, all eager to advance their ideas about how to prevent another deranged madman from taking innocent lives. President Obama is calling on Congress to issue gun control legislation that would limit access to assault weapons. The National Rif...more »

I'm inclined to agree with Ezra Klein's post today that liberals are failing to recognize that this week's fiscal cliff deal was actually pretty good for them. However, it seems to depend on there being a good chance of revenue-raising tax reform. That still seems very unlikely. I've written about this before, but here's the problem, once again. Tax reform -- eliminating or reducing favorable tax treatments in exchange for lower rates -- is a nightmarish problem to solve under the best of circumstances. Revenue-neutral tax reform almost certainly creates marginal winners and solid...more »

For your contemplation, a few observations of Alexis De Touqueville (1805-1859) on war and the democratic state. "*There are two things that a democratic people will always find very difficult, to begin a war and to end it."* *"No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country. Not indeed that after every victory it is to be apprehended that the victorious generals will possess themselves by force of the supreme power, after the manner of Sulla and Caesar; the danger is of another kind.* ** *"War does not always give over democratic communities to military ...more »

American drones have an enormous vulnerability, their absolute dependence on computer code that can be easily hacked. This is suspected to have resulted in Iran's capture of a Lockheed RQ-170 stealth drone in December, 2011. Something even more code dependent is the F-35. It requires no less than 9-million lines of code to operate, more than double that of its stealth Big Brother, the F-22. A considerable portion of that code is believed to have already been hacked out of Defense Department and contractor computers and the Chinese are the prime suspect. *The control algorith...more »

In *Nature *today, Dan Sarewitz offers up a New Year's resolution for scientists: To prevent science from continuing its worrying slide towards politicization, here’s a New Year’s resolution for scientists, especially in the United States: gain the confidence of people and politicians across the political spectrum by demonstrating that science is bipartisan. That a call for science to demonstrate that it is not a partisan endeavor is necessary is reflective of the degree to which leading scientific institutions in the United States (and elsewhere as well) have become deeply part...more »

I was reading an article in which the topic at hand was how the American government is going for not only handguns, but also a new nation wide "assault weapons" ban/restrictions. Now, that got me thinking. The Sandy Hook shooting, although tragic and evil at its finest, is not enough to make even the people on the fence give up their guns, much less anyone who gives a flying (expletive) about the constitution. Now, you combine the Trayvon shooting, the Aurora movie theater shooting, the Sikh temple shooting, and the Sandy Hook shooting, and I would still venture to say you don’t hav...more »

"Comedians make jokes about how every sad song on the radio becomes relevant to the most miserable episodes in one’s life. Breakups, especially, attract every song of heartbreak, loss and treacherous betrayal from Hank Williams’ *Your Cheatin’ Heart* to Sam Kinison’s cover of *Wild Thing*. This is because DJs have sinister psychic abilities that allow them to zoom in as surely as radar love on each and every poor sap who just found out he’d been jilted, cuckolded and used to make an ex-boyfriend jealous. Not only that, but the worst songs to hear hit the broadca...more »

* **by Ken* As Howie and I have had all too frequent occasion to report, not many Obama appointments have been as disapointing as FCC Chair Julius Genachowski, who came to the job with what most observers familiar with the turf thought were pretty good credentials, but who has established himself almost without exception as a trusty servant of Big Media and the telecom industries. While we've all been preoccupied with the fiscal-cliff follies and our normal holiday preoccupations, the other day Karl Bode of the blog Broadband Reports passed along news of another fine development a...more »

Women in Delhi are rushing to apply for gun licenses in the aftermath of the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student who died in hospital last weekend, but most will be left defenseless as a result of India’s strict gun control laws. The story again illustrates how draconian gun control policies only serve to disarm victims while emboldening criminals. On December 16, a couple boarded a bus in the Munirka area of Delhi on their way to Dwarka in the south-west of the city. The woman, who remains unnamed, was subjected to a brutal gang rape that lasted almost an hour ...more »

PressTV [image: US President Barack Obama] US President Barack Obama’s administration is continuing rendition, the practice of sending terrorism suspects to third countries for detention and interrogation without due process. George Bush administration’s practice of rendition is continuing under the Obama administration despite widespread condemnation of the tactic in the years after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the *Washington Post* reported on Wednesday. According to the US daily, it is unknown how many renditions have taken place during Obama’s first term due to the secre...more »

we've all heard about the literally unbelievable Sabina Erikkson and her sister Ursula case ... you know, 'indestructible Scandinavian assassin' hammered into by cars on the M6 motorway then hammering herself on the head as she ran from the scene of a murder? Could there be a breakthrough in the case? The Spooneristically named *CUPID STUNT* films appear to have the untold story of what this case was all about; here's there recent trailer for Deep Productions' MADNESS SHARED BY TWO investigative documentary.

[image: Richard Branson has suggested B.C. Premier Christy Clark try kite-surfing with him, noting she should be aware of the 'dress code.'] After the big bru ha ha over Milfgate, people like David Obee who ran to Christy Clark`s defense, Vaughn Palmer and others who tried to defend Christy Clark`s response to a question posed by someone named Andrew on the Drex show.. Those paid pundits and deflectors claimed Christy Clark was put on the spot, they say Christy got blind-sided by an inappropriate question...To which I say.. RUBBISH, I am saying to all British Columbians that Chr...more »

Story is developing faster than I can write about it. Until about an hour ago I wouldn't have bet Boehner could be deposed, but now after Chris Christie's presser and watching the growing bi-partisan rebellion against Boehner, I'm not sure his hold on the gavel will survive the vote tomorrow. Last night Boehner was blaming Cantor for failing to bring the bill to the floor. This morning, Boehner was ignoring the massive outrage in the Houseand promising to bring a new bill up first thing in the 113th session. This, of course, ignores the whole process would have to start up all ove...more »

[image: The New York Times] ------------------------------ January 1, 2013 Haiti’s Long Road On the eve of the third anniversary of the earthquake that devastated Haiti in January 2010, the country remains in a fragile state. Billions of dollars in aid and lofty promises to “build back better” have brought it only so far. A recent article by Deborah Sontag of The Times showed, in disheartening detail, the distance between hope and reality. Ambitious projects are stuck on drawing boards or have been held up, she wrote, “by land and ideological disputes, logistical and contracting pro...more »

Evidence from a shooting in July in a Colorado movie theater, that killed 12 movie-goers and wounded 58, will be made public for the first time at a hearing next week, prosecutors said on Wednesday. The evidence will be presented to a district judge who will decide if there are sufficient grounds for James Holmes, accused of the shootings, to stand trial. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/02/us-usa-shooting-denver-idUSBRE9010ED20130102

The number of FBI background checks required for Americans buying guns set a record in December, as the Connecticut school massacre stirred interest in self-defense and prompted renewed talk of limits on firearms, according to FBI data. The FBI said it recorded 2.8 million background checks during the month, surpassing the mark set in November of 2 million checks. The number was up 49 percent over December 2011, when the FBI performed a then-record 1.9 million checks. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/02/us-usa-guns-record-idUSBRE9010H020130102

Comedian Jim Davidson has reportedly been arrested by police investigating the Jimmy Savile abuse allegations. It is understood he is one of two men arrested today on suspicion of sexual offences as part of Operation Yewtree. http://news.sky.com/story/1032697/jim-davidson-arrested-by-jimmy-savile-police

An Indiana hospital has fired eight employees, many of them veteran nurses, because they refused to take the flu vaccine. IU Health Goshen is just the latest hospital to force its employees to receive the jab and fire or discipline the ones who object. At least four of the nurses who was terminated tried to appeal the vaccine on religious grounds with the help of a lawyer. The hospital rejected their arguments and fired them anyway. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2255814/Hospital-fires-EIGHT-veteran-nurses-refused-flu-shot-religious-reasons.html

An attorney who filed a request to sue the state of Connecticut for $100million over the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School has withdrawn his lawsuit. Irving Pinksy was seeking to sue the state on behalf of a six-year-old survivor of the horrific attack that left 20 first graders and six adults dead. Pinsky says he received new details about security at the elementary school that made him reconsider the lawsuit. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2255841/Sandy-Hook-shooting--100M-lawsuit-state-Connecticut-withdrawn.html

As we now see the struggles ensuing from the playing fields of the end-of-empire planners, it's instructive to remember those of the past. The end of empires and the accompanying sea change of social organization are always remarkable for their extremes of human behavior. The almost frenetic preoccupation and adherence to the Nazi ideology in the latter stages of the war, when it was

Gun rights advocates are hitting back at many of the stars who appeared in popular pro-gun control campaign 'Demand a Plan.' A video posted on YouTube called 'Demand a Plan? Demand celebrities go f*** themselves' labels the stars hypocrites because many of them have appeared in violent roles in TV and movies. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2255718/YouTube-video-reveals-bloody-roles-filmed-celebrities-calling-gun-control.html The video hits back at celebrities for 'Demand a Plan' campaign

House Speaker John Boehner twice told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to 'go f**k' himself last Friday after a meeting at the White House on a budget compromise to avert the fiscal cliff. Standing in the White House lobby not far from the Oval Office, Boehner pointed his finger at Reid and sneered, 'Go f**k yourself,' Politico reported, citing multiple sources present. Reid replied: 'What are you talking about?' Boehner repeated: 'Go f**k yourself.' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2255930/Republican-House-leader-John-Boehner-tells-Senates-Democrat-Go-f-k-yourself.html

A gun trade show in the U.S. has attracted huge crowds and posted record sales - just weeks after 20 children and six adults were shot dead in the Sandy Hook school massacre. Many vendors at the Nation's Gun Show, held over three days in Chantilly, Virginia, struggled to keep up with demand as customers rushed to snap up assault-type rifles, handguns, ammunition and magazines. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2256058/Record-sales-Virginia-gun-families-stock-weapons-Sandy-Hook-massacre.html

These alarming pictures show 18,000 freshly sliced shark fins drying on the roof of an industrial building in Hong Kong. Traders have taken to airing the fins on rooftops after a backlash against the old practice of scattering them on pavements. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2256086/Shouldnt-fins-attached-shark-Horrific-images-TEN-THOUSAND-fins-dried-food-Hong-Kong.html

Google funnelled an astonishing £6billion through the tax haven of Bermuda in a year – while paying just 0.1 per cent of that amount in British corporation tax. Official documents reveal that by exploiting the tiny tax haven the internet giant halved its global tax bill in 2011 – leaving governments, including the UK, out of pocket by more than £1billion. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2255850/Google-6billion-Bermuda-tax-shelter-Web-giants-haven-revealed-Cameron-urges-global-crackdown.html

We live in time, whether we realise it or not. Time is ultimately the product of entropy. The universe is a closed system travelling from perfect order to perfect disorder. The unevenness of the universe at its earliest known moments is what produced history, we have galaxies, stars, planets and people. The Earth itself is an open system so, within this small context, we experience counter-tendencies, such as the origin of species or the rise of human civilisation. The experience of time is relative, either to entropy or counter-entropy. In the case of humanity it seems scientists ...more »

A police officer accused of plotting to cook and eat women has demanded that prosecutors give him the names of 20 other suspected cannibals. Gilberto Valle, who served with the NYPD, insisted he needed to contact the alleged criminals to prepare his defence, because he was accused of being in league with them. Police apparently have 'hundreds of thousands of e-mail and instant-message communications in which Mr Valle and others talked about their violent sexual fantasies.' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2256002/Cannibal-cop-plotted-kidnap-cook-eat-women-demands-names-20-di...more »

Two recent statements - one from a right-wing government minister and the other a liberal Zionist icon - reveal the staggering degree of racism in Israeli political discourse. The first comes from Israeli Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat, who is a member of Netanyahu's Likud party, who declared during a debate at Israel's Tel-Hai Academic College yesterday, "Israel is a Jewish state.

------------------------------ *MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2012* ** *Michael Hudson: America’s Deceptive 2012 Fiscal Cliff, Part II – The Financial War Against the Economy at Large* *By Michael Hudson, a research professor of Economics at University of Missouri, Kansas City, and a research associate at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. His latest book is “The Bubble and Beyond.” * Today’s economic warfare is not the kind waged a century ago between labor and its industrial employers. Finance has moved to capture the economy at large, industry and mining, public infrastruct...more »

A convicted killer - dubbed the "Black Dog Strangler" - has escaped from a secure psychiatric hospital in Newcastle. Police are hunting 44-year-old Phillip Westwater, who fled St Nicholas Hospital on Jubilee Road in Gosworth, at 10am, after asking to go to the toilet. He is described as white, 6ft tall, of slim build with brown/grey hair. He undressed in the lavatories before he escaped so there is no description of what he might be wearing. A Northumbria Police spokesman said: "Officers are making inquiries into this individual and any risks he may or may not pose. "In the meanti...more »

...Don't know when she'll be back again. Today, the day after New Year's, I got an email from Mrs. JP telling me the news I've been dreading since last month: Her family won't be able to afford her return air fare to get her back to me on the 8th like they'd promised. I didn't need to hear this. It's supposedly finances but oh well, we're all hurting, including yours truly. Anything other than the flight times and flight numbers for her return trip back home on Tuesday is an excuse I don't want to hear right now. I placed my trust in her family and put her on a flight...more »

These people are crazy and blind. They are destroying themselves. They chant, "Oh Jabhat Al-Nusra we love you to death." Yeah, that sounds about right. Jabhat Al-Nusra produces nothing but death and destruction. To love them means to love death. Video: Syrian Demonstration Supporting Jabhat Al-Nusra: "Obama, There Is No Terrorism in Syria" [Source: MEMRI]

The London Guardian is reporting that in celebration of its resounding defeat in 1982, the silly woman who runs Argentina wants the English to hand the Falkland Islands over to her. Thirty years after Britain and Argentina went to war over the Falklands, Argentina's populist president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, has returned to the fray with a blistering attack on British "colonialism" and a demand to hand back "Las Malvinas". In a stinging letter to David Cameron, Fernández urges the UK to abide by a 1960 United Nations resolution urging member states to "end colonialism...more »

Well, *that* was quite a year. Lots of unexpected events. Not the least of which was a country that was more upset with the state of government than Southern Man can remember voting in "more of the same." Oh, well. Resolutions? We don't need no stinking resolutions, particularly as we're still working on those from last year. Especially the last one. Two years, now? Sheesh. But other than that things are progressing, slowly. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it's getting brighter every day. New Year's Eve was spent with good friends from church, eating and playing gam...more »

Ms. Bailey’s sad and wonderful gift to New York libraries Sent to the New York Post, January 2, 2013 Mary McConnell Bailey’s gift of $10 million to New York libraries is both sad and wonderful (“Life of golden silence,” January 1). Wonderful because Ms. Bailey understood the importance of libraries. Sad because these kinds of donations are necessary. Libraries, school and public, are poorly supported, even though research consistently tells us that when children and adolescents have access to good libraries with plenty of good books and with adequate staffing, they read more. The resu...more »

*Al-Qaeda has friends in high places. * We all know how much *President Drone loves Al-Qaeda*, but he's not the only one. Israel's government is also infatuated with Al-Qaeda thugs and terrorists. Here is an excerpt from an article by Voltaire Network called, *"Mossad agents in the Al-Qaeda unit that attacked the Yarmouk camp"*: The battle that raged starting December 9 in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp (south of Damascus) has revealed new alliances. . . It now appears that the al-Qaeda fighters were not only made up of Muslim extremists, but also included Israeli Mossad a...more »

You must have heard Richard Feynman's monologue on the beauty of a flower from the scientist's viewpoint. It was aired at the very beginning of the interesting 1981 BBC program The Pleasure of Finding Things Out. But this may be the first time when you're encouraged to watch this animation that was created on the background of Feynman's wise words. Incidentally, a language question: is Feynman's pronouncement of the word "interesting" the most common way to do so in the U.S. English? I believe that e.g. Leonard Susskind says the word in the same way but it's still rare. Is it...more »

Around 100,000 people were struck down with the winter vomiting bug over Christmas, latest figures suggested as it emerged the number of confirmed cases was 72% higher than this time last year. The dramatic rise was attributed in part to an early outbreak of the illness which closed dozens of hospital wards as it swept across the country. A total of 3,877 laboratory-confirmed cases of norovirus have now been recorded in England and Wales - up on the 2,255 of last year. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/revealed-100000-were-struck-down-with-vomit...more »

Prime Minister David Cameron wants his fellow G8 leaders to immediately start preparations to make brave decisions at the group's annual summit in June. The meeting will take place at County Fermanagh's Lough Erne golf resort. The UK has just taken over the year-long presidency of the group, which consists of, historically, the richest countries in the world. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20886448

*because I'm worn out from looking over the pretend "fiscal cliff."* We fell off that cliff long ago and anyone who doesn't realize this is not paying attention. It's all a bunch of crapola. I refuse to participate. Instead, I'll spend the day running important errands, working on my yearly plan, returning emails, and doing what I can to prepare for what's coming in the future of this country. I saw the following comment over at American Thinker and found it to be one of the most concise descriptions of a liberal ever written. The Democrats of today are elitists and authorit...more »

What we know is that the RCMP is rotten, from the top down. The good news is that an increasing percentage of Canadians across the rest of the country is figuring out the same thing. Perhaps British Columbians know the RCMP better because we have to put up with a lot more of them - over 10,000 in fact, about the same number as in a WWII army division. In effect, we're occupied by a gang of federal thugs with some very nasty tendencies. From the unexplained bullet in the back of young Ian Bush's skull to the execution of Robert Dziekanski, from a litany of acts of brutality to...more »

This constitutes our promised post containing the “final list” of OAIS Award Nominees. This is also your last chance to let us know if we’ve left off an eligible nomination. We will send out a ballot soon. The current plan is to use a Borda-count process to create a list of finalists and to proceed to a Continue reading

*Dylan Hockley, victim of CIA brainwashing?* * * Dylan Hockley lived in a house opposite that of Adam Lanza. Nicole Hockley says: ‘Dylan and all the other children and teachers who lost their lives are *butterflies* now.' Sandy-Hook-victims-Proud-parent *Ian Hockley at the funeral of Dylan. Butterfly on lapel.* At Dylan's funeral, the mourners were able to watch a clip of Dylan popping out of a jack-in-the-box, as the organist played *Somewhere Over The Rainbow *. Sandy-Hook-victims-Proud-parents *Nicole Hockley recalled asking Dylan at one time why he flapped his arms... * * **“...more »

So the US fiscal cliff has been avoided - or rather, postponed for a couple of months after a last-ditch deal was clinched in Washington. Global share prices have already rallied on the news that this is not to be a story of financial calamity. But instead, there's a story to be told of what happened to a party which publicly pledged never to vote for tax rises; a leader accused of running a "dictatorship" and being more interested in his own job than the long term needs of the country, and another party whose bitter infighting meant a deal that so many found unacceptable finally g...more »

Russian warships have embarked on a long voyage to the Black and Mediterranean seas to take part in what the Defence Ministry said would be the largest naval exercise in decades. It said on Wednesday that ships from its Northern, Baltic, Black Sea and Pacific fleets would stage the exercise at the end of the month to test their ability to act together outside Russian waters. Its website said the training exercise would also include anti-terrorism and anti-piracy drills. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/02/us-russia-naval-exercise-idUSBRE9010F120130102

More than 60,000 people have died in Syria's uprising and civil war, the United Nations said on Wednesday, dramatically raising the death toll in a struggle that shows no sign of ending. In the latest violence, dozens were killed in a rebellious Damascus suburb when a government air strike turned a petrol station into an inferno, incinerating drivers who had rushed there for a rare chance to fill their tanks, activists said. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/02/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE8AJ1FK20130102

One man has died when a car was struck by a freight train at a level crossing in the Yarnton village in Oxfordshire. The accident at the Sandy Lane crossing was reported to the British Transport Police at 3.40 pm. "It is believed two people were in the vehicle at the time. Sadly one of them, a man, was pronounced dead at the scene," the police said in a statement. http://news.sky.com/story/1032623/man-dies-as-train-hits-car-at-level-crossing

Please sign the petition. From Carol Burris: Dear friends and colleagues, Happy holidays to all. The spring testing season is just around the corner. The Commissioner and Chancellor have already warned us that the 3-8 tests will be more difficult, and fewer students will reach proficiency. We know what that means-more frustrated and upset students, more confused parents who will fear that their child is not on the road to "college readiness" and more anger directed at schools and teachers in the press. If a decade ago there was a good reason for NCLB testing, that reason is l...more »

An American journalist is missing after being kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in northwest Syria six weeks ago, his family said on Wednesday. The family of freelance journalist James Foley, 39, launched a public campaign to bring him home after requesting a news blackout since Foley was taken on 22 November in Idlib province. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/02/us-syria-crisis-journalist-idUSBRE9010EA20130102

Iran has captured two miniature U.S.-made surveillance drones over the past 17 months, Iranian media reported on Wednesday. Several drone incidents over the past year have highlighted tension in the Gulf as Iran and the United States flex their military capabilities in the vital oil exporting region in a standoff over Iran's disputed nuclear program. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/02/us-iran-drones-idUSBRE9010EV20130102

The United States and New Zealand conducted secret tests of a "tsunami bomb" designed to destroy coastal cities by using underwater blasts to trigger massive tidal waves. The tests were carried out in waters around New Caledonia and Auckland during the Second World War and showed that the weapon was feasible and a series of 10 large offshore blasts could potentially create a 33-foot tsunami capable of inundating a small city. The top secret operation, code-named "Project Seal", tested the doomsday device as a possible rival to the nuclear bomb. About 3,700 bombs were exploded duri...more »

It seems that every time I read the newspaper I find yet another article discussing the myriad ways carbon-based fuel is destroying our ecosystem. What people don't seem to fully realize is that human's seat at the top of the food chain means they are likely to bio-accumulate the greatest amount of toxins over the long term. Humans are bigger than bees, bats and frogs, which are all animals we know are experiencing population collapse due to environmental contamination. Our size makes us think we are not vulnerable to the environmental risks bedeviling small animals. That belief i...more »

The House Press Gallery has a nice fact sheet on the incoming 113th House. Lots of fun facts, some of which I knew (78 women, 59D/19R, not counting 3 delegates, all Democrats), and some of which I didn't (9 Asian Americans -- all Democrats, not counting two Democratic delegates). And one total shocker, at least to those of us who remember 1995. Also worth noting... 7 of the 47 new Democratic Members are also old Democratic Members. Seems like a pretty experienced frosh class. Only one of the 35 new Republicans has been in the House before -- Steve Stockman of Texas. 27 incumbents w...more »

*WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013* *Kevin Drum’s long-awaited report:* Ever since we learned it was coming, we’ve been looking forward to Kevin Drum’s long-awaited report. Has the removal of lead from the air driven the steep reductions in crime over the past twenty years? In this post about crime rates in L.A., Drum previews his new report for Mother Jones about the effects of lead removal. Drum has posted on this topic for years. At some point last year, a terrible thought crept into our heads as we watched the remarkably self-contained children we now see emerge, on a regular basis, ...more »

Scientologists have constructed an enormous underground "space alien cathedral" near Roswell in the United states, according to a BBC reporter. John Sweeney, who has dedicated much of his career to investigating the secretive church, describes the multi-million dollar facility in his new book, Church of Fear. “We are seeking the space alien cathedral that ex-Scientologists say was built deep underground by the church in the 1980s at a cost of millions of dollars," says an extract from the book adapted for The Sun newspaper. "Its vault houses the lectures of church founder L Ron Hubb...more »

Via the World Bank, the graphic above shows "brain circulation" -- the immigration and emigration of researchers -- for 16 countries in 2011. Countries that experienced a "drain" included India, Italy and Belgium. Gainers included the US, Australia and Switzerland. The data comes from: Chiara Franzoni, Giuseppe Scellato, and Paula Stephan, May 2012. “Foreign Born Scientists: Mobility Patterns for Sixteen Countries,” National Bureau of Economic Research.

*WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013* *Don’t even bother to ask:* Michael Bennet, a Democrat from Colorado, is apparently in the United States senate. On New Year's Eve, he voted no on the fiscal cliff budget deal. In this morning's New York Times, Maureen Dowd tells us all about him. What follows is almost half her column. In a truly remarkable moment, she even quotes Katherine Boo: DOWD (1/2/12): Michael Bennet was supposed to be going off a cliff in Vail. *But instead of his usual New Year’s trip to a ski lodge with his wife and three daughters, the junior senator from Colorado found him...more »

The inconsistencies and the questions continue to mount in the Sandy Hook massacre. Why are parents being told they can not see the bodies? It is their right to see the bodies, officials have no right to tell them they cannot. Parents need to demand the bodies be exhumed, and they need to be there. From CNN transcripts….. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LYNN MCDONNELL, MOTHER OF GRACE MCDONNELL: I had said that to Jack that it’s OK to be angry because sure, we have anger and we are upset and we don’t know why, but I told Jack that he could never live with hate. Grace didn’t have an ounce of ha...more »

British taxpayers have effectively funded executions in Iran by providing £3.6m in aid to the country, according to human rights campaigners. The money has been used to fight the flow of drugs into Europe, with Iran historically the leading recipient of UK anti-drugs assistance. Prisoners' rights charity Reprieve claims recent spending has coincided with a jump in the number of executions for drug crime. http://news.sky.com/story/1032579/british-aid-funding-iranian-executions

Renditions continue under Obama, despite due-process concerns By Craig Whitlock, Published: January 1 The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/renditions-continue-under-obama-despite-due-process-concerns/2013/01/01/4e593aa0-5102-11e2-984e-f1de82a7c98a_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines [Excerpted] The three European men with Somali roots were arrested on a murky pretext in August as they passed through the small African country of Djibouti. But the reason soon became clear when they were visited in their jail cells by a succession of American interrogat...more »

Dozens of people have been killed after an air strike on a petrol station in the capital Damascus, according to opposition activists. Mohammed Saeed, an activist who visited the site, said "tens of people were killed or wounded" in the strike, while "body parts could be seen on the ground". Amateur video, which cannot be verified, showed block smoke billowing from the petrol station in the eastern suburb of Mleiha and casualties fleeing the scene. http://news.sky.com/story/1032591/syria-petrol-station-strike-kills-dozens

[image: This map merges data for all major categories of environmental stressors to the Great Lakes, ranging from climate change to pollution to invasive species. greatlakesmapping.org] Ann Arbor, Michigan, 20 December 2012 (SPX) – A comprehensive map three years in the making is telling the story of humans' impact on the Great Lakes, identifying how "environmental stressors" stretching from Minnesota to Ontario are shaping the future of an ecosystem that contains 20 percent of the world's fresh water. In an article to be published in the *Proceedings of the National Academy of ...more »

[image: Aerial view of Boomerang Island, a coral atoll and part of the disputed Spratly Islands in South China Sea. China's economic boom has seen its coral reefs shrink by at least 80 percent over the past 30 years, a joint Australian study, with researchers describing 'grim' levels of damage and loss. Storm Crypt / Flickr] Sydney, 27 December 2012 (AFP) – China's economic boom has seen its coral reefs shrink by at least 80 percent over the past 30 years, a joint Australian study found Thursday, with researchers describing "grim" levels of damage and loss. Scientists from the ...more »

Saudia Arabia seeks water in Ethiopia with violent consequences. Via Laleh Khalili. “Morsi and the Deep State.” The case for the US continuing a hard line against Cuba. First-image explanations for US strategic failure. Walt’s “Top 5 parties in World History” should include instead the celebration of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis rather than “The Fields of Continue reading

[image: Feeling hot hot hot... Australians are set to face one of the largest heatwaves in decades in 2013. Simone De Peak] By Peter Hannam, Carbon economy editor 3 January 2013 AUSTRALIA'S notoriously variable climate is on full display, with parts of the nation about to experience one of the largest heatwaves in territorial extent in decades, after coming off a sharp shift last year from wetter- to drier-than-average conditions. A swath of central Australia stretching from Oodnadatta to Coober Pedy and Birdsville can expect maximum temperatures of 45 degrees or hotter for at l...more »

*WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013* *Part 2—Promising echo of Klein:* At MSNBC, at the Washington Post, new liberal and mainstream elites are being assembled and certified. Often, they call themselves wonks, nerds or geeks. It’s the liberal world’s top humblebrag! That said, who *are* these new wonks on the block? Quite possibly, they will define the horizons of the liberal world over the next many years. Who are the new wonks? Struck by two year-end lists at the Post’s Wonkblog site, we felt it was time to find out. One example: Who the heck is Dylan Matthews, we finally decided to ask....more »

James Hall, Contributor Hold your breath, the race to the bottom is ready to escalate. The consequence of the corporate consumerism economy has reached the tipping point. The old rules that mainstream spending will dig the way back to prosperity are permanently dead. The one sure implication that is indisputable is that taxes are set to rise at unprecedented levels. With Obamacare revenue obligations coming into effect, the latest phase of centralized medical socialism spreads like a virus. Under such circumstances, how can the patient regain their health? The Rino Republicans...more »

Happy Birthday to Robbie Ftorek, 61. My all-time favorite hockey player, from his three years with, and the only three years of (how could it have been only three years?), the WHA Phoenix Roadrunners. And now, after a long holidayish break, back to the good stuff: 1. John Sides on early ads in 2012. 2. Suzy Khimm has 5 facts about the fiscal cliff vote yesterday. 3. Also yesterday: Public Domain Day. 4. Ed O'Keefe noted that the fiscal cliff was also the end of David Dreier's House career; I think he was a pretty good Member. 5. Paul Krugman, being brutal.

I read Dr. Dawg's posts pretty much everyday. Still like the way the dude thinks. But I read the comments section too, for a laff. K-Z is still there. Babbling his vile, racist stupidities. Peter 1 is still a pompous, evil fraud. How happy I am that I've chosen not to engage with that human filth. Yea I am petty! Verily art I small! Look out woild! Here's 2013!!

*Freethinker* just left this piece. Thanks kindly!! Having read through it I am posting it, entirely. *Adrian Salbuchi shares his thoughts for 2013* * Note to Kenny @** Kenny's Sideshow : * 2013 is shaping up to be even uglier, like you, I will be there to witness it and write about it. What the hell, at least, were in dam fine company! World Government stepping onto sovereign Nation-States, puppet politicians unable to cope with social challenges, chaos in the Middle East and ever increasing global crises – all this awaits us in 2013. Is it time for ‘We the People’ to wake up? ­...more »

As publishers have always been in the content and rights business but have long been restricted by the book format. Now the digital world offers new forms and licensing opportunities and enables publishers to redefine their role in the development and exploitation of content and rights and also build brands. An example is the recent move by Penguin to take full ownership of Snowman Enterprises Limited (SEL). This logical acquisition means that Penguin now control not just the traditional book rights but the film, TV, digital and merchandising rights to Raymond Briggs' classic, *...more »

We already knew that Congress had a pretty low approval rating by the American public. In fact, 2012 has seen the lowest approval since Gallup has been keeping records and the trend doesn’t look good. Approval is at 18% right now, but we anticipate that to tank after the bungled fiscal cliff negotiations. But aside from the low job approval ratings, the American people don’t think Members of Congress are very honest. In a December Gallup poll most Americans gave members of Congress as having “low/very low” ethical standards, lower than car salesmen, HMO managers, and stockbroker...more »

By: Nathan Lamb Industrial waste dumping from the early 20th century is the primary suspect behind recently discovered contaminants that have shut down a popular city park in Cleveland, according to this story. The City of Cleveland started renovations on the 12.5-acre W.C. Reed Playfield over the summer, but that plan was put on hold after soil tests discovered elevated levels of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (or PAHs) on the site. PAHs are typically a byproduct of petroleum processing or combustion and can be highly carcinogenic at relatively low levels, according to the U.S...more »

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Big Study: Vaccinated Kids 2-5 More Diseases Than Unvaccinated by Louis Rain Health Freedom Alliance, 14 October 2011 *Preventable Vaccine-induced Diseases* A German study released in September 2011 of about 8000 UNVACCINATED children, newborn to 19 years, show vaccinated children have at least 2 to 5 times more diseases and disorders than unvaccinated children. The results are presented in the bar chart below; *the complete data and study results are here*. The data is compared to the national German KIGGS health study of the children in the general population. Most of the respo...more »

Max Arthur OBE We are thrilled to learn today that for services to military history in this year's New Year's Honours list, Max Arthur, a longtime friend of Annie and staunch supporter of Bibliophile, has received an OBE in deserved recognition for his writing on oral military history. Max has brought history back to life through his 'Forgotten Voices' series of war books working closely with the Imperial War Museum on *Forgotten Voices of the Great War* and *Forgotten Voices of the Second World War*. In the course of his work he developed a close relationship with the last survi...more »

The Liberal Party's traditional strategy of campaigning from the left and governing from the right led the late Rene Levesque to conclude that the party was "the biggest whorehouse in the world." Now, Paul Adams writes, the party seems to be campaigning from the right: Martha Hall Findlay calls for an end to supply management. Marc Garneau wants to open up telecommunications to foreign investment. And most important — because he appears to be an almost prohibitive front-runner — Justin Trudeau has tried to outflank the Harper Conservatives in welcoming offshore money to the oilp...more »

From Politico and again on Politico It was only a few days before the nation would go over the fiscal cliff, no bipartisan agreement was in sight, and Reid had just publicly accused Boehner of running a “dictatorship” in the House and caring more about holding onto his gavel than striking a deal. “Go f— yourself,” Boehner sniped as he pointed his finger at Reid, according to multiple sources present. Reid, a bit startled, replied: “What are you talking about?” Boehner repeated: “Go f— yourself.” The harsh exchange just a few steps from the Oval Office — which Boehner later bra...more »

South Korea has dismissed as "bland" a New Year message from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in which he urged a lessening of tensions between the two countries. In the first televised New Year's Day message by a North Korean leader in 19 years, Kim stressed the importance of improving his impoverished country's economy and improving relations between the two Koreas, which are technically still at war. http://news.sky.com/story/1032416/south-korea-rejects-norths-bland-message

A dedicated advocate for putting the reality of a living being, a child, back into the actuarial equations of our political considerations, Peg With Pen posts this on the first day of 2013: Teachers, as you plan how to resist corporate education reform and rebuild public schools on National Opt Out Day (Jan.7th) - or any day for that matter - here is one way to do it - do not allow others to refer to children based on their test scores. Children cannot be called "UnSats" or "Partials" or any other label attached to a number. It is beyond disrespectful and allows teachers to become...more »

Mohawk John Kane says the 'nation to nation' relationship is a white man's concept and urges Chief Spence to halt her 'suicide mission' Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence said,“First Nations leadership need to take charge and control of the situation on behalf of the grassroots movement. We need to re-ignite that nation-to-nation relationship based on our inherent and constitutionally

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I've been 'around' for a few years now, pursuing the shifting goal of a sharable home-made surfers resource site focused on ease of use and variety of mostly adult ( whoa : I didn't say prurient ) content.